Last year, I lived through one of my worst nightmares: my pet cat went missing. Tom-Tom, an ornary-yet-lovable black and white cat, has been my family’s pet for ten years. I picked him out myself at the shelter when I was in third grade. Any of us who have pets know that they really are members of your family.

We also have a dog and another cat. I love them all dearly. Last summer, we realized Tom-Tom and our other cat, Luna, had gone out but only one had returned. We hadn’t seen Tom-Tom in nearly a full day. I began to panic. He always came home within an hour and never went far in the first place. My family and I began fearing the worst. Tom-Tom’s twin had been killed by a car a few years ago. Had he suffered a similar fate to his brother?

I started to frantically call neighbors, asking if they had seen him. Part of the problem was that Tom-Tom has such a generic description. He’s a black-and-white shorthair cat. There are probably half a dozen like him on my block alone.

It wasn’t until I called our next-door-neighbor that I had legitimate hope. She hadn’t seen him, but suggested I used Pat Amber Alert. I had no idea that was even a thing. I knew Amber Alert was an emergency service for missing children, but for pets? She assured me that she had used the service for her dog in the past and someone found her the next day. I immediately hung up and got on the website.

Pet Amber Alert basically works the same way it does for humans. You provide information, a photo, last-seen location, and general description of the animal along with your own contact information. I sent it out and waited, but thought it would probably lead to nothing. I couldn’t be more wrong.

When you provide your zip code, the Amber Alert is sent to all surrounding veterinarians and animal shelters. A shelter the next town over received it and recognized the cat in the picture immediately. Tom-Tom was being held there. In less than 24 hours, I received a phone call saying that they most likely had my cat. We had him back that afternoon, and I wanted to cry out of relief. As it turned out, he had lost his collar and since he’s a pretty skinny cat, he was mistaken for a stray and surrendered to the animal shelter. They realized he wasn’t feral and put him out for adoption, but luckily we found him first,

Pet Amber Alert (www.petamberalert.com) saved Tom-Tom. If he didn’t get adopted within a few weeks, the shelter would have put him down. Or, he would have been adopted and I would have lived without knowing what ever happened to him. This is a free service that few people know about, but it is so incredibly helpful. We all love our pets and would go crazy if they went missing. So, if this ever happens to you, use the Pet Amber Alert. It is the surest way to be reunited with your furry family member, and could even save your pet’s life.